The present invention is that of a newly designed apparatus for repairing a sagging automobile headliner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,151, issued to Guswiler, discloses a headliner which consists of two elongate members which are selectively attachable together and which can be springedly and flexibly retained against a vehicle""s headliner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,903, issued to Bainbridge et al., discloses a self-supporting headliner panel for lining the interior surface of an automobile roof, which comprises a front sheet, a back sheet, and an intermediate corrugated sheet adhered to the front and back sheets.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,032, issued to Blevins et al., discloses an improved adjustable rib for use with an awning support apparatus which in turn is used with an awning having one end attached to a wall and the second end attached to an awning support tube that is held a predetermined distance from one end of the awning, measured along the awning, by a pair of side frames attached to the wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,388, issued to Knaggs, discloses an assembly for supporting a headliner along the selected cross-body contour of a vehicle including a resiliently flexible strip curtable to a length longer than the horizontal length but not longer than the peripheral length of the selected cross-body contour of a vehicle roof and further, includes a pair of devices for mounting the strip at each end of the cross-body contour for supporting the headliner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,621, issued to Maurer et al., discloses a thermoformable laminate structure with a retroflexed margin that comprises at least one sheet of thermoplastic foam having a polymer impregnated cloth adhered to at least one side thereof.
U.S. Patent No. 4,172,918, issued to Doerer, discloses a contoured self-supporting automotive liner panel, such as an headliner, which comprises an outer substrate layer of expanded plastics material which is relatively rigid and has a substantial resistance to bending, an intermediate layer of relatively soft, compressible, flexible, expanded plastics material, and an outer flexible decorative finish cover layer.
The present invention is that of a newly designed apparatus for repairing a sagging automobile headliner. The present invention comprises a thin, flexible rod fabricated from either metal or plastic. The rod is available in a certain length, preferably at least 4 feet 9 inches long, that would make the rod a xe2x80x9cone-size-fits-allxe2x80x9d device. A user would then be able to cut the rod to a required length that would be needed for a particular vehicle. The present invention would also include a rod clip, which would allow the rod to be used on automobiles that would have no headliner molding. The rod clip would have teeth on its bottom surface which would allow the headliner to be removably mounted on the bottom surface of the rod clip. The rod clip would also have an incorporated extending tab on the bottom surface of the rod clip, which would allow the rod to be inserted into the rod clip.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regard as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved apparatus for repairing a sagging automobile headliner which has all of the advantages of the prior art headliners and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved apparatus for repairing a sagging automobile headliner which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
It is still another an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved apparatus for repairing a sagging automobile headliner which is of durable and reliable construction.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved apparatus for repairing a sagging automobile headliner which is economically affordable and available to the buying public.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved apparatus for repairing a sagging automobile headliner that can be easily and quickly installed.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment when considered with the attached drawings and appended claims.